A P14 Rebarreling And Cartridge change Project

[Dthunter]

Nice project. P14 actions are a dime a dozen here at times. I would go with the 30-30 loading like you wanted, good for cast and easier to get cases and being a bolt action you can use all types of 308 boolits. The only problems i have encountered modifying P14s was the hardness of the breech. I rebarreled one with a new 303 barrel, turned out real nice and very accurate. Boyds makes fine stocks for them too.
Any questions please ask
be well

Thankyou! Boyds do make a wonderful stock for these rifles! I replaced the original stock with a Boyds last year. The newly modified action will wear the same stock.

[Larry Gibson]

Sweet!

Larry Gibson

[Dthunter]

thank you Larry! I am excited to get this project moving!

[rosst]

look forward to seeing how this project goes . .. R

[Frank46]

There was a article many years ago by Norman Johnson regarding using either a P13 or P14 action (don't remember which in either rifle or handloader magazine. He used a short 30 or 32 caliber rimmed cartridge for cast bullets. He did use it as a single shot rather than a repeater. Frank

[swheeler]

There was a article many years ago by Norman Johnson regarding using either a P13 or P14 action (don't remember which in either rifle or handloader magazine. He used a short 30 or 32 caliber rimmed cartridge for cast bullets. He did use it as a single shot rather than a repeater. Frank

Almost sounds like the 30 Johnson Special done by Carl Johnson on a 1917 with 1-15 twist Hobaugh barrel, cast bullet gun. He shortened up the 30-30 to about 1.6" and turned the rims to .470 for the 1917 bolt face.

[firefly1957]

If you plan on using the gun for cast bullets you can not go wrong with the 30-30 enjoy your project!

[swheeler]

I'd say go for it, you got to use all that brass up, eh?

[Idaho Mule]

I agree with Larry, That stock is SWEET!! JW

[Dthunter]

thankyou JW! Boyds did a great job on that one!

Just a note, I did hand rub some boiled linseed oil into the stock. Got my hands hot with friction and the oil absorbed well causing the colors sort of pop. I did 4-5 coats hand rubbed.

[map55b]

I recently rebarreled a Remington 30 (P17) and a P14 to 375 H&H. An old timer smith and mentor said that those big old action should have a big old cartridge in them.

[hubel458]

They should also have a big new cartridge in some

of them, the 585HE.. Ed

[Dthunter]

Wohooo, Stage one is finished! I am very pleased with the results Thus far!

I managed to get my rifle today, and I installed the scope an hour ago! But I will not get a chance to shoot it for two more weeks!
I will posts a bunch of pictures in chronological order to emphasise the changes from before to after the initial modifications. The one item that I am still waiting for is the "cock-on-opening" assembly.
Hope you like the pictures!
A few original pictures:

[Dthunter]

A few Detailed pictures of the modified action before the scope was mounted:

[Dthunter]

And Now With The Scope Installed




All that's left in this project, is to install a match quality barrel in 30-30 Winchester!

[Frank46]

Swheeler, exact same cartridge. I've a huge stack of both magazines and someday I'll find the article. I've a winchester 54 action that is setup from the factory as a 30-30. Barrel looked like a sewer pipe so took it off. Magazine has two slanted plates in it and you have to keep the rim of the cartridge ahead of the last one or you get rim jam. I had the bolt done by Griffen & Howe many years ago and it's already D&T for scope. Frank

[Ballistics in Scotland]

The nice thing about a Rimmed Cartridge is,
If you set up the rifle to headspace on the case head, and no matter what the shoulder dimension is, if you neck size the cases only after they are fired in that chamber, then you will be guaranteed TWO datum points to support the cartridge in the chamber.
You can't ask for more when it comes to accuracy.

Was there ever a benchrester who didn't ask for less? Metal expands when heated, and cases vary in their degree of springiness when sized. If you size your cases to have contact on both rim and shoulder, it is sometimes going to be on only one of these, and sometimes on the other. I'd make it rim, and have a little space to prevent dirt in the chamber from making closure difficult. It may only happen once in a while, but it is going to be the shot of a lifetime when it does.

There is a lot to be said for the Krag or the 7.62x54R rather than the heaviest and clumsiest .30-30 you will ever see. It may be that reducing the expander button with fine abrasive will make the 7.62x54R case grip a .308 bullet, or even that some of the diemakers may offer them for that purpose. If you did, you would need a reamer with the right size of pilot, or an interchangeable pilot. A general principle is that the cost of a reamer will pay for a lot of cases.

The P14 bolt face and extractor don't need any alteration for the magnum head, and they don't necessarily have to be short magnums. I made mine into a .300H&H, and achieved good feeding with my own silver soldered bronze magazine box and rearward extension to the follower, and some work on the feed ramp and rails. I don't know that the .300 Winchester would be any easier, with its shorter length but wider and more sharply angled shoulder.

You may or may not find a big hole under the rear sight sight, which you will probably want to fill if you remove the rear sight ears and attach a scope base. The best way to do this is to cut and file a piece of steel which is a close fit, and weld it at the top only. If you try to fill the hole with weld, you may make the bottom of the hole, which is very thin, sag into the bolt way. I have heard it said that the magnum conversion is unsafe with the original barrel, because although it is otherwise of a very usable contour, the chamber comes close to a screwhole.

If you want to fit an aftermarket trigger, there is no need for one with a trigger safety, as the cocking-piece safety on these rifles is an extremely good one. I used the Dayton-Traister steel trigger and cock-on-opening kit, not so much for the cock on opening as for the lock time. The action of the safety then gave a slight click, but I was able to eliminate all noise by working on the slot in the new Dayton-Traister cocking-piece with a Dremel tool and diamond burr, removing about a pinhead's-worth of steel, and got total silence without losing the very slight lift of the cocking-piece off the sear which is essential for safety. If you have the opposite, a pull of the trigger dumping the cocking-piece onto the safety, there isn't room for the sear to get back into place, and you have an accident waiting to happen when the safety is taken off.

Attachment 153071

[Dthunter]

Update to the project!

My First Day Out With The Updated P14.

I mounted my 6.5x20X40mm VXIII To Start load development.









Here is a few targets I Fired today. Its -15 to 20, and frigidly humid feeling today?! But That didn’t stop me from Flinging a few bullets down range!




This target is with a 46.0 grain charge of a bulk powder W760 ( a very slow lot of W760) and a Hornady 174 grain Interlock bullet. I never Chronyed the loads today, as I had forgot my Chronograph at home!





This is another charge of the bulk W760. The rifle seems to like this charge weight so far. I need to shoot a few more 5 shot groups to confirm this loads potential.





The rifle is showing some promise. Lots more shooting to do for load consistency confirmation!

[Dthunter]

I know this isnt about cast boolets today but, I Had a great day out shooting the P14! The P14 Shot one group that was much better than average! I pulled one round to the left on my second group, but all indications point to that I may have found my hunting load. This load is a little slow in velocity, but I don't think there will be any issues with that.


The first target has all the load information on it, and the second target I never took the time to write the information before I took the picture. I apologise for that.





This target is a load that has all the same components as the one above, just 1 grain higher in charge weight.
This load didn't cluster as tight as the one above (still 5 shots), but still did better than I expected this old rifle to do.



Overall, I look forward to retry these loads to confirm their performance at longer distances (200-300 yards) to see if they stay tight on target.


I tried two other groups with Imr4451 and they both showed a tendancy to group 4 shots together and one just outside the group. Sorry, no pictures available at this time. They were in the 1.2" to 1.35" range for the 5 shots. They have potential, as long as I can concentrate on 5 consecutive well squeezed shots!


I having fun with this old girl!

[earthquake]

I bought 2 Remington P14 actions from Springfield Sporters years ago for $40 each, They are Drill purpose actions [marked "DP"] but they were not welded on. I built a .458 Win Mag out of one of them, its not a pretty rifle but it is very functional, the barrel is 26" long with a muzzle brake, it feel like shooting a 270 win with 500gn factory ammo. I straightened the bottom metal but left the magazine box full length, it will hold 5 round in the mag, this makes the stock belly look kind of odd but not bad. shooting it off the bench it will put 3 rounds on target you can cover with a quarter, one of these days I am going to rechamber it to 458 Lott and make a real barn stormer out of it. one thing I recommend if you use a P14/M17 action for a hard kicking round is to straighten the bolt handle or it may bust you in the knuckle when you shoot it. I think I am going to make the other action into a .300 RUM. I cant find a picture right now but will post one when I find it.

Casey